>> who do you think deserves the oscar? >> i thought wolf of wall street and dallas buyers club. >> and i think jarred leto will win for best supporting actor. "happening now" starts right now. >> breaks news on today's stories. >> testimony in the trial of a women accused of plotting the murder of her exhusband. what a friend of pamala philips said on the stand and what it means for the case against her. and an underground explosion rocking columbus, ohio. and are all bets off on the mid-term elections? it is all on "happening now."

>> we start with the inside story on the botched obamacare rollout. a new report revealing how close the white house came to scrapping the white house website and starting over. i am jenna lee. >> and i am jon scott. you will recall the problems with the website where most users couldn't log on and those who did got knocked off. time magazine is reporting what went on at the white house saying the president considered replacing the site with a whole new website. we have a staff writer and the weekly stander and editor for roll call is here. this piece is astounding. it says this is the president's legacy piece of work, building health care website and obamacare that follows after it,

and no one at the whitehouse new whether the website worked on the day they hit the launch button. >> it is long read, but worth it. it gives insight into how involved the whitehouse was with this website launch. they were not involved at first. it is better to control your message than do damage control which is what they were stuck doing >> what was the problem, michael? according to this article, was it the president and his ideas about reforming health care or the people that worked under him? >> what this article showed us was that president obama wasn't severed that well by his offices

and cab ninet and he wasn't interested in figure out if things were working. kathleen sebeli kathleen sebelius went to the whitehouse 17 times saying the website isn't coming up. this exposes problems in the leadership that we knew about, but this tells it well in a lot of details. >> in the days immediately after the launch, the president was saying these are just glitches. he used. and yet, we are now learning, according this piece, two and a half weeks after the launch, he is asking if the website should be scrapped. >> i would be more worried if he didn't even consider that. as manager you have to be able to look at it and say maybe we

should start over. he did go out and say it was a couple glitches. it was way more as we know now. the important thing is not even what is on the front end, the user interface was bad, but imagine what the backe pend was like. stories are telling how bad the management was and the ties between the coordination between the irs. users didn't even see that part. >> part of the theme is this was such a mess and there are a lot of unsung heroes who rescued this two and a half weeks later and in the weeks beyond, salvaged this. it is working again. but that is the website and as pointed out, we don't know about the backend of -- back end of

this working -- >> that is the deeper side. for months, health insurance expe experts say it is the back end and getting the information to the insures. they whitehouse is right. the health care law is more than a website, but there are so many problems beyond the website, i don't know if scrapping the website as obama considered would have saved much of anything. i think you would have seen a lot of problems on the back end. >> and president carter had not real successful stint in the whitehouse. it was said because he was a micromanag micromanager. this is implying obama is out in space and not in much on what

was going on >> i don't think anyone would accuse the president privately or publically as being a micromanager. that is not his style. this white house can be insular and they have had trouble reaches across the blocks of capital hill. this is a closed in whitehouse in terms of who the president keeps as counse counselors. >> thank you both for coming in. >> ukraine's ousted president is doubling down claiming he is still the leader of the country speaking from russia. amy has more on this. >> reporter: there is an

increasing russian or pro-russia militia present that is causing concern. it is hard to tell how much is bluster and how much has the ability to escalate into the conflict. members of russians naval fleet, the black sea fleet, surrounded a boarder guard post this morning and left the officers inside saying this russian naval officers don't want a repeat of the square in kiev where the revolution happened. armed men surrounded the airport at the regional capital and the military airport where the russian navy black sea's fleet is based.

both airports are back under ukraine control. they have plans to hold a referendum in way about taking a greater independence in russia. last week, he was in the president's chair and now he is on the run for mass murder. yanukovych is blaming the west for medaling in the affairs and being responsible for the chao. he vowed to return to ukraine as soon as he feels safe. >> i am ashamed. actually, what is more, i would like to apologize. i would like to apologize to the

veter veterans, to the people of juan ukraine for what happened in ukraine, for the fact that i didn't have enough strength to get stability and i allowed this to happen. >> reporter: he was asked about the reports of stealing millions, if not billions, from the coughers, he claims he'd didn't have overseas bank accounts. but switzerland froze branch bank accounts in yanukovych's name. drought-stricken southern california could be getting 3-5 inches of much-needed rain but

that could trigger dangerous flooding and mudslide putting lives in danger. adam housely is live from california. >> reporter: it could be too much rain too late. looking at these homes that are protected by k-rails and sand bags have been put there. that is a homemade situation of wood trying keep the mud going in the home. you can hear the rain coming down heavy about 35 miles from la. on the hillside and where the fire raged through in january. there is nothing but dead trees and everybody is worried that some of the mud may come down. when you talk to locals, they will say they are worried but hopeful as well. >> we have dogs, i have a

medical condition, we have a mom with alzheimer's and it is too many issues to go to hotel room. >> taking out everything that has value and after that, what will i do? >> reporter: some people who had to evacuate for a fire are now having to evacuate for potential mud. we have seen patrols coming from northern california all the way to the boarder people in california are dealing with this. we are only 15% normal and it will take 6-7 storms to california close to where it should be. because it is so dry in the burned areas, the rain is coming down the hill side and not saturating the ground.

there are a thousand homes asked to leave and we are seeing patrols coming through every 15 minutes. driving up and taking a peek at the hillside to say how much rain. we are getting heavy rain, then it stops, and comes back. the steady rain is expected to come. this is the second of three major storms >> they do get some warning? people are driving in examining the hillsides. they get an idea? >> reporter: yes, a lot homeowners have stayed here. they have packed up their belongings. the wind is coming through here with leftover ash from the fire.

if they see the mud trickling n way, they will know it is coming and quick. >> let's hope they get out quickly. adam, take care. >> back to politics. high profile democrats making controversial remarks going unnoticed and now question on a political double standard. a verdict against carry kennedy as well. we have the results next. the new guy is loaded with prote! i'll believe it when i -- [ both ] oooooh... [ female announcer ] as you get older, carry kennekerry jennedy druggd

just in, jurors delivering a verdict in the drugged-driving

case of kennedy dismissing the charges. it stems from an incident in 2012 where kennedy clipped a tractor trailer under the influence of a sleeping pill. she testified he accidently took that pill instead of her thyroid medicine. controversial remarks from democrats raising questions about double standards. they got barely any media attention but if they were made by the republicans it would have been a firestorm. give us some examples, doug. >> take the comments by joe biden who some refer to as the human gas machine.

this comment referenced kevin johnson but some say it played off offense stereotypes >> i told the president next game i have him. i maybe a white boy but i can jump >> and then in a recent debate, the democratic house candidate in the 14th house district in florida said this: >> we have a employers that rely on workers and in this environment where will you get people to clean hotel rooms or do our landscaping. >> and just this week, the united states un ambassador tweeted this out about the

ambassador captured quoted: she did clarify this but the damage was gone. and the dnc vice chairman tweeted this to arizona, you have lost this argument 50 years ago and you don't get to decide who sits at the lunch counter. this case of foot and mouth calling it the lay of the year. she forget segregation was a product of the democratic party and all of them marched away unsc unscathed. in fairness, republicans do the

same thing but their mega phone isn't as big. >> live in washington, d.c., thank you doug. the power struggle intensifying in ukraine as the nation's new leaders accuse russia of a military invasion and we will look at the lengths that moscow will go to keep the former blocked soviet union under their thumb. and updates in the pamala philips trial. >> i could have him taken out. >> i could have him taken out.

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>> john kerry wrapping up a phone call with russians'

foreign ministers discussing the movement in ukraine. ukraine accused moscow of taking control of two airports. but john kerry said they told him they have no move of taking control. peter brooks is here and sounds like wise advice, never say never, why does it apply to this situation with russia? >> the fact is that russia has significant interest in the ukraine. i think the russian war games could be turning into an invasion of war games if they go the right way. it is unlikely. there are ten million russians in ukraine, about 10% of the

population, or the russian citizens in the eastern part, they could do something. remember in 2008, russia still has armed troops in a place there so they could do something about this. and russia could take military action. >> and peter, on the ambassador bolton who worked under the bush administration, has been critical for them not taking a stronger line in 2008 when that happened and russia went into georgia. how do we not repeat the same mistake? we would meet russia if they come into ukraine? would we be there? >> you don't want to get to that point. you have to say there would be consequences and you could talk about economic sanctions and going to the united nations. you want to prevent anybody from

crossing the line because once you in war it is that much more difficult. the russians are saying the right things, but things could develop quickly in ukraine that could change that. >> we are just getting wires from rioters that just crossed about this phone conversation john john johnny -- john kerry had -- and we are being told russia is told they must respect the terrain and putin agreed with that. i am seeing another headline saying armed men extend control at military airport taking over the runway. so what is being said and maybe what is being done seems different according to thes headlines? >> you have to be careful. it is all wrapped up in the deeds.

you can ignore the words in a concern way. but we don't know what is going on there. who are these people? independent fashion? taking orders from moscow? we don't know the answers. this crisis could escalate if there is violence against the russians there. they have been there since the 1700s and things could change with the war games going on in western russia could be maybe moving into ukraine. >> some people are saying this represents a larger issue with with american. here is an opinion from charles

krauthamm krauthammer: obama doesn't understand american in action creates a vacuum. and in a different story here is what was said by another person: events in ukraine illustrate how the world is changing and the united states leadership is better exercised by staying quite and working behind the scenes. they insure -- ensured -- this wasn't about the united states trying to steal ukraine but they have their own ideas and want to be free. >> this crisis started in november. there is nothing wrong with private diplomacy but the fact of the matter is any policy has

to be effective and that is measured on how this crisis is concluded. >> thanks, peter, for your perspective. >> there are growing objections to propose new rules for the irs in how it regulates political speech. we will look at why that is unreported. new reads from the economy and what we're learning about the forth quarter economic growth in this country.

>> a quick look at what is still to come. the irs scandal is under new scrutiny. and mcdonald is facing a $1.5 million lawsuit all over a napkin. and seth rogan is coming to capital hill and the personal story behind his testimony to congress. let's look at the economy. mixed signals on the united states economy as growth is stalling and investigators are buying new heights of stocks. >> reporter: less than five hours for the trading day and the market is roaring.

s&p 500 records were made the dow and s&p up around 4% and nasdaq adding 5.2 percent. the gains might describe the real state of the economy. there are concerns that growth stalled out after a new government report is showing the economy expanded at 2.4 last year and that is down from 3.2%. growth is held back by stopped consumer spending. a lot of people are blaming the bad weather keeping us indoors. but as the snow melts, some are hopefully the growth will rebound. the federal reserve chair said the nations central bank is watching to make sure weather was indeed behind this. the number of americans

contracting to buy homes flattened and that could have nothing to do with the weather because sales rose in the northeast where it was frigid and fell in the northwest where it was warm. falling incomes and rising home prices maybe the bigger issue. and consumer confidence rose this month. so mixed data over all and the question is to blame the weather or not blame the weather. nice gains today. >> it is easy to blame the weather. >> reporter: very easy. the irs under the microscope on the hill. lois learner was called for more question and another committee heard about the tax agencies efforts to regulate political speech. but both of these escaped the

mainstream media. we have a reporter here ellen ratner and you make no bones about it. you are a card carrying liberal and what do you think about the pocket of the irs coming after liberal groups? >> i am this happening in the '80s when i got unusual questions from the irs on my tax return and my accountant refused to answer them. this has been going on and the issue is what is going to make it stop targeting the right or the left skwhie and why isn't the press covering this. >> the aclu and the syria club are upset about the regulations but you are not hearing much in the media, why snnot?

>> it is a hard story to cover. this is a regulation story with the irs putting out the regulations and we have close to 70,000 comments from people including statements and views from the syria club, aclu and liberal groups that didn't pay attention when the conservatives were being targetargeted. i think an irs story that doesn't move forward or has a big headline and hard for the broadcast media cover. >> it is complex. we are talking about whether they are targeting or if they can say things within 30 or 60

days within an election. people's eyes glaze over with this so it is hard to cover but doesn't mean they should. >> why should the irs be involved in this at all? >> that is dating back to what started all of the this. were political groups being targeted. but has the story moved from the first questions of people being targeted? i don't think so. i think when we get a startling revelation it will be covered. >> meantime, let's turn our attention to another story that may or may not be covered. president obama's former budget director is fighting tooth and nail to keep his finances

undercover. he is described as geek, chic, sex symbol. he was the first budget director for obama. he is involved now in a nasty divorce. he wants to make sure his finances as result of this divorce case, they are kept out of public view because if he should return to government service it could hurt his standing. is this our business? >> i think it is not our business unless he returns to government services. then if he does, it does become fair game for all of the news people to talk and write about it. we had his picture in the basement whitehouse pressroom because he is the gift that keeps on giving in terms of his

personal life. >> his att all records between his ex-wife who wants more child support as a result of this, they have two kids together. all of the records between here and media contact they have. appropriate? >> of course, they will try do whatever they can. but i am with ellen on this. i think the problem we have is a attra attra attracting people to public service. you will not make them more attractive by saying everything about you and your past life and future jobs and your current jobs is going to be public if you have ever been in the public eye. i think this is a pernicious trend. i understand why the media wants to find out what he has done, but this is inappropriate.

this is a private matter between him and his former wife and i think it should stay private. >> they are asking for them to unseal the documents saying the public as a general interest in how he obtained his wealth. we will get into this later. more witnesses taking the stand in the pamala philips trial. she is accused of hiring a hitman to kill her number back in the '90s. >> she really did it. put quotes around that. you don't want to hear those words from a friend at your murder trial. the friend of a women told the court a lot. man leaves the country club, walks to his car, the car blows

up. this is real. that man, gary triano, was a well-known real estate salesman and his ex-wife, pamala philips, hired someone to kill him so she could get a $2 million insurance policy. testimony that she told friends she should hire a hit man and have them take her out. anything said in court is the fact this happened in 1996. the friend on the stand had a brain tumorer and only recently recalls this story. this case is high profile in

arizona. the daughter took the stand -- >> i saw an explosion at the golf course and i said to myself, wow, i better ask dad about this. >> reporter: that couldn't happen because we know her father was killed in that explosion. we should mention this case gained worldwide attention when pamala philips went on the run. authorities caught up with her in austria and sent her back here. >> mcdonalds making a new golden arch enemy. a customer is suing the fast food giant because he only got one napkin with his meal. we will sink our teeth in the case next. case next. why do i cook? because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment.

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interesting things to look at. one mcdonald customer is suing for $1.5 million after claiming mcdonald only gave him one napkin and when he went to ask for more the manager was rude and even racist. i have a statement from mcdonalds saying he understand the customer was disappointed with his visit and we have made every effort to make it right. we're not aware of a lawsuit. what does that statement mean? >> they may not be aware of the lawsuit because you have time to send it to mcdonalds. so that takes time sometimes.

they may not be aware of the lawsuit. it has no nutritional value in my mind. it is nuisance as far as i am concerned. it is against one of my all-time favorite restaurants. >> if this manager says something that was racist -- this man went up and asked for something and the manager wouldn't give it to him and said something like oh, you people. if a manager does say something that is racist is there a potential case? >> this isn't a case where i was only given one napkin. that is ridiculous and harvey levin who is a lawyer knows that is what put the chain of events. if the slur is true, he is

bringing action under a civil rights theory and the facts will bear it out. >> fred, if that is the case, is there a case? >> you know what, if i looked like george cloony i believwouln the movies. he wrote a letter saying the manager was rude and no customer service skills, but didn't mention the racist comment. it is grounds for a lawsuit if he made the comment but the allegation was he made a comment about you people, if that was raci

racial, or about rude people waiting on table. >> present company excluded. >> exactly. >> lawsuits, i think about the one about the scalding coffee, and the women sued for that and got money for that and there was a private settlement, she was awarded $10 million and the judge cut it down. you wonder how many are being filled on a regular bases. >> that was a legit lawsuit. >> i was in a case where it was all fraud. this one at the end of the day, freddy and i a pretty good about predicting, and we say this isn't going anywhere. >> fred, see you in a bit. >> he is famous for playing funny guys, but seth rogan had a

serious reason for appearing on capital hill. the story he shaird and the senators he called out during the testimony. roguean recall seth roguan

actor seth rogan taking center stage on capital hill. he is addressing lawmakers urging them to focus on alzheimer's research. >> this is getting cold reception in congress. this isn't the first time politicians are using arth actors to get across. seth talked about the rising cost of alzheimer's disease on

americans. he addressed the adequate funding. he is married to a lauren miller whose mother was diagnosed alzheimer's. >> you said you never saw knocked up so that is insulting. >> i am aware this has nothing to do with the legalization of marijuana. >> he testified and took to twitter venting he testified between a row of empty seats because only 2-18 were pleasant despite the fact they took pictures with him. ben affleck took the stage to

talk about the violence in congo. i am not a congo expert but working to fight for a community i believe in. 5 million have been killed since 1998 there. he said we should increase agriculture. he said your creditability is great because of the depth of commitment. sometimes proving hollywood can go further in politics. the situation in ukraine is intensifying and the leaders are warning russia to stay out. we're live with the latest on this. and a federal appeals court is siding with the california high school that banned t-shirts

featuring the american flag. why they were banned n first fist place coming up.

jenna: big developments on our top stories and breaking news this hour. jon: the battle for congress heating up. a new report that president obama may turn to class warfare as a message to try to help democrats in november. and are the mainstream media throwing in the towel on the irs targeting scandal? we report, you decide. dangerous floolding out west and another -- flooding out west and another massive snowstorm could impact millions of americans including right here in new york city. we're tracking it for you, it's all "happening now." ♪ ♪ jon: well, major developments in the benghazi terror attack investigation. hello and welcome to this brand new hour of "happening now" on a friday, i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. house lawmakers are now poised to recall former cia deputy director mike morrell in an

effort to get to the bottom of whether he gave misleading testimony on the white house's role in crafting those flawed talking points in the wake of the deadly attack that claimed the lives of four americans including ambassador chris stevens. our chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is following the story from washington. >> reporter: republican allegations that the former acting and deputy director of the cia misled congress over the white house's role crafting the talking points is taking a significant turn with mike rogers of the house intelligence committee telling fox news it's likely he will be called to testify, and investigators are also reviewing the testimony of his former boss, david petraeus, to assess whether he should be recalled as well. >> we're looking at director petraeus' transcripts and reviews, looking what information we have now available. sometimes that second interview can be equally important, and it is likely we will have director morrell up to testify before the

committee. >> reporter: immediately after the attack, petraeus rankled some lawmakers when they say he seemed to down play the skill needed to fire mortars on the cia annex. that attack killed the two former navy seals. new testimony is likely to be public in this case. >> i would prefer to have an open to session. i think that would be, i think, enlightening to everybody who has concerns about what happened on that september 11th day that took the lives of our americans. >> reporter: and three leading republicans said on the senate floor that there was ample intelligence that there was no protest right after the attack, citing eyewitness accounts from u.s. personnel on the ground in benghazi. one senator claimed morrell accused the tbi of refusing -- the fbi of refusing to share those accounts. >> he said, mike morrell, the fbi, basically, would not share that information because it was an ongoing criminal information. my mouth dropped. when the meeting was over, i ran

back to my office, i called the fbi. they also denied that their agents ever withheld information from the cia. >> reporter: in a letter to congressman rogers, morrell says he'd welcome the chance to testify, and he wants his previous testimony to congress to be declassified. quote: i hope you agree that a session fully open to the american people is in order so that they can hear the facts of what occurred and which clearly demonstrate that everyone at the cia and throughout the intelligence community operated appropriately. fox news also asked petraeus if he'd appear voluntarily, and there was no immediate response, jenna. jenna: catherine herridge, we'll stay on this story, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. bill: with control of congress up for grabs in november, the battle lines are becoming more clear in washington. republicans already are hammering democrats on obamacare. now politico is pointing out a new strategy could be in the works for democrats with president obama taking the lead. in a speech later today to the democratic national committee, the president will reportedly

slam congressional republicans as the party of opportunity for a few claiming they want cuts to education, more power for lobbyists and corporations and tax breaks only for the wealthy. so is class warfare going to be the theme in the midterm elections? joining us now, susan perrico, chief congressional correspondent for the washington examiner. susan, you say that this is an issue or a campaign theme that president obama has turned to in the past. >> sure. it's sort of an old issue with a new spin. p don't forget in 2012 the way mitt romney was portrayed as a wealthy man who was disconnected from working class american, and some people think that helped keep home part of the republican base in the 2012 election. there's some evidence it can be successful for democrats to use this tactic. i think in this case it's the president and democrats sort of playing defense, and what are they playing defense against? they have a very sluggish

economy that the president has to to take credit more, and diss rollout of the health care law, people losing their insurance, losing their doctors, having to pay more in premiums. how are they going to change the conversation? well, they go back to income inequality which creates the sort of class warfare issue that we saw in 2012 between the 1% and everybody else. and we've already seen that in the senate and the in the house and congress right now where democrats are pushing the idea of increasing the minimum wage and restarting the federal unemployment benefits and more stimulus. these are arguments we've order in the past, but they trot them out now in an election year to try to get everybody talking about this as the reason why people are not doing better in this economy, and it takes everybody off the conversation of the health care law. so it's sort of a win/win for democrats. and if you look at polls, it resonates with voters. voters support a minimum wage increase or at least the idea of it. they support extending federal unemployment benefits or at

least the idea of that. so it's something that's popular with voters, and it distracts voters. and i think we're going to see it go on and on through 2014, and it actually is a strategy that can work unless republicans can come up with an argument against it. jon: yeah. by most measures it is a lousy economy, although we are officially out of a recession. most americans, the fox news polls say, still think we are in one. so president obama's answer although, as you say, it's his economy and he should be taking the credit or the blame for it, his answer is to say, oh, things those mean republicans? >> well, absolutely. would be better were it not for and it's a political strategy that's been used many times in the past be, that the reason why you're suffering economically is not because of the economy's not growing fast a enough and it's not because many of the long-term unemployed are not finding work in this economy, it's because of things that really wouldn't work. i mean, if you raise the minimum wage, we've already heard from the congressional budget office that this would reduce jobs by a

half a million at the very least, and this idea of federal up employment benefits, that's just paying people who are out of work. democrats are calling it a stimulus. they're saying if you raise -- if you again start the unemployment benefits, the economy will be stimulated, and jobs will be created. so they can turn the argument on its head. jon: but the question is, i mean, most people say that the economy is their number one issue, so when the president is talking about income inequality or class warfare or whatever you want to call it, is he talking about the same thing? i mean, is he addressing what people are truly concerned about? is. >> no. he's, he's shifting the blame. it's actually, it's a perfect political strategy. jon: a straw man. >> right. saying six years in here we are, the economy's really not where it should be, i know you're all suffering. he's saying, look, i can help you, but the republicans are getting in the way of it by not increasing the minimum wage. and, again, studies are very divided on how helpful these

strategies are. but they resonate with people none the less. so democrats are definitely going to be employing it. jon: susan, chief congressional correspondent for the washington examiner, thank you. >> thanks. jenna: and now to weather, a fox news weather alert, much of the country plunging back into a deep freeze as a major storm moves from california across the country all the way to the east coast. we're all in it together. it will drop lots of snow, bring record-setting cold with the mercury dropping 30-50 degrees below average in several states. this latest storm could dump 12 inches in some areas already covered with snow. of course, you're looking at the storm out there in california. speaking of california, less than ideal conditions for oscar weekend in southern california. relentless rainmaking things very dawrmings there. flood warnings in effect as another round of severe storms move in. drought and recent fires have left the land vulnerable to widespread flooding and mudslides. mandatory evacuations ordered

for 1,000 homes in suburban los angeles. you told us there was going to be a big storm in california, and here it is. >> reporter: obviously, the mudslides are a concern, especially in those fire-prone areas, oscars, or if you care about that, the run will be done by sunday night. but we desperately need a ton of rain, and we're getting it. take a look at the satellite imagery, it's an incredibly strong storm. a lot of moisture in southern california, also a lot of windy conditions along with this, that increases the threat for power outages, but you can get an idea how heavy this rain has been. l.a. yesterday saw their first calendar day with over an inch of rain in over two and a half years, so they desperately need it. there's the threat for severe weather all along the big cities including tornadoes across southern california. this is the forecast where you see all these reds, that's an additional 3-5 inches of rain, that snow is great news as well.

helps eventually with the snow pack and filling a lot of the reservoirs. okay, now go out across the east, and you see the cold air saturday night, -19 for a low temperature in fargo, -11 sunday night in minneapolis, but you see the cold air will be in place, and this storm in california heads toward the east. and by saturday into sunday it becomes an east coast, potentially a major ice storm from kansas city through st. louis right along the ohio river valley. some areas over half an inch of ice accumulating, that means the presidential or some very -- potential for some very significant power outages. we're also talking about snow across the great lakes, in much of pennsylvania, in towards new york city, possibly looking at 6-12 inches of snow. so this winter, jenna, that so many people wish would stop, not happening. martha: it is march 1st tomorrow, isn't it? >> bundle up, get ready, we're not done with it at all. jenna: at least we know. >> reporter: exactly. knowledge is power, right? [laughter] jenna: rick, tnk you.

jon: so all the hollywood stars are going to to be walking the wet carpet. jenna: rain does a lot to your hair in ways that, you know, you can't control. so even more reason to watch, apparently. jon: it's going to to be interesting. [laughter] caught on video, snowplow drivers burying a truck on purpose. the department of public works say the plows were clearing out a municipal parking lot when this happened. you can see the plow even backing up to gather more snow. that buried vehicle is a massachusetts state transportation truck. once an employee dug it out, he noticed a rear panel had been dented. the town manager says it's clear the truck was intentionally buried. your tax dollars at work. jenna: wow. that doesn't look like a lot of fun. a fox news alert, two schools on lockdown if brevard county, florida. harris faulkner following this story from our breaking news desk. >> reporter: that's because the schools are not awfully far away from -- let's pop this up on the screen. the center is the traffic circle

right outside the brevard county courthouse. there is a guy, and we've pulled the shot out, at least the helicopters pulled out it looks like because he has a gun, so we don't want to telegraph too much of what's going on. it's not safe. but outside the brevard county courthouse right now is a man with a gun. he's been out there for almost an hour that i've been watching this shot. i have a closer view on my computer right now that we are not showing on screen for the reasons that i just gave you. inside that courthouse people are told to shelter in place. there are emergency lights that are flashing, courthouse doors are locked and then, jenna, you mentioned those two school nearby that as a precautionary measure have been put on lockdown and those people told to shelter in place. people are old not to come near the -- told not to come near the schools or courthouse while they try and commandeer in this man. according to witnesses, police approached this man, told him to put the gun down, he refused to do this. so far no shots fired

reportedly, nobody hurt in all this. i'll stay on the story. back to you. jenna: hopefully, it ends peacefully. harris, thank you. >> reporter: absolutely. jon: still ahead, as you know twitter quickly went from tech start-up to wall street darling, but could its fairy tale ride be ending? what analysts are saying now about twitter's future. and a federal court ruling that a school can legally ban american flag t-shirts. huh? that's not silencing critics who call the ruling ridiculous. >> the very idea that an american flag could be banned on american public school is just, i mean, that is a name, that's crazy. and not only is it crazy, it violates the constitution. ♪ ♪ okay, listen up! i'm re-workin' the menu. mayo? corn dogs? you are so outta here! aah! [ female announcer ] the complete balanced nutrition of great-tasting ensure. 24 vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and 9 grams of protein. [ bottle ] ensure®.

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jon: "happening now," south africa gg ready for the blade runner murder trial. olympic and paraolympic track

star oscar pistorius will face a judge beginning monday charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend on valentine's day last week. he's claimed to have shot and killed her accidentally after mistaking her for an intruder. a judge recently ruled there can be tv cameras in the courtroom for portions of this trial. jenna: new information now on the recovery of racing legend michael schumacher. you may remember he was injured two months ago in a skiing accident in france. doctors say the blow to the head left several blood clots on his brain, and they are now trying to wake him from a medically-induced coma. some experts not involved in the treatment say he may never make a full recovery, claiming the longer he remains in a coma, the worse the recovery tends to be, but other experts say it's still too early to make an accurate prognosis and, of course, we wish him and his family the very best. jon: a federal appeals court says a high school in california did not violate the constitutional rights of its students when officials made

them turn their american flag t-shirts inside out. the school ordered students wearing those shirts either to hide the flag or go home fearing they would incite violence with latino students on the mexican holiday of cinco demayo. william la you yahoo! necessary -- la jeunesse is live in los angeles with more. >> reporter: well, the flag flap has drawn national attention with many upset students were not allowed to wear an american flag at an american school. yesterday the ninth circuit court of appeal sided with live oak high school near san jose where back in 2010 it told five students wearing shirts with the american flag to cover up or go home. worried that the shirts would upset hispanic students celebrating the mexican holiday of cinco de mayo. the school, which is equally split white and hispanic, called the shirts incendiary and disrespectful. and cited a history of racial tension. the court ruled concerns outweie

students' first amendment rights. the judges' opinion saying in part, quote: school officials did not violate the students' rights to freedom of expression, due process or equal protection. the panel held that given the history of prior events at the school it was responsible for school officials -- it was reasonable, excuse me, for school officials to proceed as though the threat of potentially violent disturbance was real. >> the incident was a student safety concern, and so the administratorses intervened and appropriately. >> the very idea that the american flag could be banned on american public school is just, i mean, that is a name, that's crazy. and not only is it crazy, it violates the constitution. >> reporter: parents of students involved are disappointed with the ruling and will ask an 11-judge panel of

ninth circuit court to look at the casement again, not just three judges, and they will appeal, they say, to the supreme court if necessary. now, the judges did not question, jon, why hispanic students wearing mexican flags were not treated equally. many watching this will say, hey, why didn't the school just cancel the mexican sell brought so -- celebration, so they'll be watching on may 5th this year to see if the school again bans, if you will, american flags on clothing. jon: so the argument isn't over. there is young to be an appeal -- going to be an appeal. >> reporter: that's correct. jon: william la jeunesse, thanks. jenna: what new research tells us about health problems associated with babies born by cesarean section, and we're going to talk more about this federal court ruling banning american flag t-shirts from a school. it says schools can limit free speech to protect students' safety, but we'll go in depth. both of our lawyers, right after the break.

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jenna: well, back to a story that certainly has a lot of interest, we've been talking about a ruling that upheld a ban that a school put on students wearing american flag t-shirts on cinco demaya, a mexican holiday celebrated here in the united states. the school feared it would cause violence between white and hispanic students. some of the hispanic students were wearing the mexican flag. there was no ban, however, on latino students. our lawyers back with us, you're both dads, so you send your kids to school and have had that experience. here's what one of mothers of the student who wore the american flag, the shutter had to say. this is the united states of america. the idea that it's offensive to wear patriot you can clothing regardless of what day it is is

unconscionable to me. doug, what do you think about this case? the court ruled clearly in favor of the school. >> well, i think you have to factor out sort of the emotionalism and the sound bites, and you have to look at -- >> why? >> -- the law. we have a 1969 case and this, by the way, does not express my own view, but we have a case called tinker v. des moines school district 1969. it says students are absolutely free to express their opinions unless it interferes with the administration of the school. and, obviously, opinions can vary. here, and i read the opinion, the court said that there were previous instances of violence on cinco de mayo, so the school's actions were reasonable. again, opinions can vary. jenna: fred? >> well, let me tell you, the law is not free from passion, and i'm sorry, i disagree with this decision for a lot of different reasons, not the least of which i think it's a fundamental first amendment right to be able to express your patriotism and wear our flag.

and the fact that this court ruled that that was in some way incendiary or insulting, i think, is ridiculous. the bottom line is in constitutional law -- putting emotions aside for a law -- it's a balancing act. and for this school to make a decision that they were going to send kids with an american flag home and not children from a mexican flag is highly intrusive of their first amendment rights, and there were other ways to do it. they could have banned the cinco de mayo party or whatever it was that day. but i think the way they went about it and the way it was actually affirmed by the ninth circuit was repugnant. jenna: that's what we've heard, doug, is that -- and we actually have some video from 2010 when this question came up at the school. you see the boys in their united states of america flag t-shirts -- >> right. jenna: and then you see other students waving the mexican flag, and some say there's a double standard. is that the case heresome. >> well, it's funny, because in going through the opinion, and i didn't have time to really study it that closely, i didn't really see all that much about this

dichotomy between one side wearing their apparel and the other. if that's true, i certainly understand the argument. but back to fred's point, i would counter also by saying that we know, for example, with the fourth amendment, search and seizure, school districts have tremendous leeway, and you don't always have your full constitutional rights. >> that's true. i agree with that. >> it's the same thing in this instance, fred. >> and i agree that schools get wide latitude. my school is with the school and, quite frankly, with the ninth circuit's affirming them by basically upholding it and, in essence, trampling over these people's first amendment rights. i agree with you that schools -- i mean, right now i have three sons in a local high school as we sit here and talk, and i understand that their job is toi keep my children safe as it is in california. but ultimately at the end of the day, they also have to respect the chirp's first amendment rights. jenna: let me ask you a question on that, though, does intent matter in this case? i know we talk about intent in a lot of cases, but if the boys went to school with the t-shirts

on with the intent to confront the students that were going to wear the mexican flag -- >> right, right. jenna: -- does that change the flag? the parents say they didn't. >> the answer is that would go to make whether or not what the school did was reasonable. if they knew they did it in order to incite violence and start a fight, then the answer is, yes, that could be relevant. jenna: okay. and that's one of the things that will come up if it does go to the higher courts? >> you know what's going to happen, by the way, because william mentioned this. they're going to go for rehearing en banc which means normally the appeal's in front of three judges of the ninth circuit, but in this case you go in front of the swire court. that's what they're going for. if they lose that, they can go to the u.s. supreme court. jenna: and do you think -- >> if they lose that, it's going to be difficult for them to get to the supreme court. >> i yee actually, yeah. >> i think this case will stand the way it is. i don't like it, but i don't see it getting overturned. jenna: fred, great to have you. doug, thank you. >> my pleasure. >> take care.

jon: new research suggesting twitter may have seen its best days, at least when it comes to the stock price. the social media giant projected to see much slower growth over the next few years. fox business network's jo ling kent is here now with more on this. we should tweet out this story, right? >> yeah, that's right, in fact, i just did, jon. [laughter] new projection from e-marketer are showing that twitter's era of rapid growth may be over. a study released yesterday shows the growth rate slowed from 19.4% in 2013 to below 10% predicted in 2015, and it also predicts it'll only grow by 6.8% by 2018 which basically means about 65 million americans or one many four people will tweet. now, you contrast that with facebook, facebook's already twice of that size of the twitter 2018 size now. these numbers are no surprise. this their first earnings report since their ipo to, ceo dick cost low said they need to make

twitter easier to use. more monthly activity users bringing its worldwide tally to 241 million for the last three months of 2013, and that's a lot slower than the 6.4% growth in the prior quarter. but some good news though, older users tend to click on ads on twitter, and we are seeing some revenue growth there in the last earnings report. but twitter's stock right now down about two-thirds of a percent in midday trading. jon? jon: all right, jo ling kent, thank you. jenna: a new study is linking birth control pills to a debilitating disease. the doctor is in with what you need to know. also it is oscar weekend, hollywood's biggest stars preparing for the 86th annual academy awards sunday night. so who will come out on top? were our fox news oscar perts -- easy enough for me to say, right, jon? -- joining us live with his predictions coming up next.

jon: the investigations of the irs delaying and denying tax-exempt for conservative groups far from over but the story largely has faded from the media landscape despite prompting from two top irs officials. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live in washington keeping an eye on that story. mike. >> reporter: jon, good afternoon. some on capitol hill are pointing a timeline of

statements and actions that took place best irs began targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. january 2010, president obama criticized citizens united court ruling calling on the congress in the state of the union address to correct the decision. senator chuck schumer ever presented the disclose act. president obama warned about shadowy groups with sounding names. irs group said the agency felt the pressure. >> other senior members, asking the irs to look into this even more and to work on this issue, it is sure looks like reaction from what? we had one of the people, even former commissioner of the irs, miller, said we felt some pressure. >> reporter: irs targeting of conservative groups came to light. and investigations continue.

some are concerned the irs proposing a new rule last november redefining political activity is a new way to go after these five 501(c)(4) organizations. a house democrat suggests these investigations could go too far. >> always wanted to cut down the irs down to nothing and they're taking this opportunity to, i think, try to destroy the irs and my argument is, we're upset. make sure that doesn't happen again. we ought to make sure whoever was responsible gets found out but don't use this opportunity to do what you always wanted to do, which is get rid of the irs. >> reporter: irs budget has been cut. even though the new commissioner expressed concern about it having impact on customer service, it seems unlikely its funding will get a boost anytime soon. jon? jon: customer service at the irs. there is a concept. mike emanuel. thanks. >> reporter: thank you, sir. jenna: county down to hollywood's biggest night. final preparations underway for the 86th annual academy

awards on sunday. there is the red carpet. shaping up to be very historic event with two blockbusters tom nated for 10 oscars each. who will win? that is the big question. we have our fox news oscar expert. always great to talk to you. >> great to see you. jenna: gets a little late for me on sunday nights. i rather you tell me who will win. >> save you three hours. for best picture of 2013 there are nine nominees. comes down two to films, "gravity" versus "12 years a slave." two films which could not be more different. jenna: very different. >> very, very close race. my projection "12 years a slave." jenna: why? >> this is the year's most powerful historical drama, superb writing acting production values. this is seen as important film. some pundits are picking "gravity." i got to tell you i don't see that happening n all of oscar's history, 85 years, no science fiction popcorn picture won the top oscar. jenna: science. >> "star wars," "et."

"avatar" lost to the "hurt locker." five other technical categories. when they announce the final award of the night, expect to hear "12 years a slave." jenna: what about best actor? >> i never thought in million years i would hear these words, oscar goes to matthew mcconaughey. i never thought. jenna: why. >> it is funny before this year, two things he was best known for. number one his abs. and number two, silly romantic comedies like the wedding planner with jennifer lopez and how to lose a guy in 10 days with kate hudson. he wasn't taken seriously as an actor. he turned his year around. real seen as a real serious these pian. in "dallas buyers club" play as aids patient. lost 47 pounds for the part. unrecognizable on screen. there is campaign for leonardo dicaprio for "the wolf of wall street." this is his fourth nomination. he is overdue. he will win eventually. sunday night, best actor,

matthew mcconaughey. jenna: i loved "dallas buyers club." i went in different expectations t was really interesting film about access to medication. >> it really was, great film. jenna: one of the themes. of the best actress? >> best actress. no surprise will be always sublime cate blanchett in woody allen's "blue jasmine." just a dazzling turn. play as new york socialite. golden globe, screen actors guild, british academy awards. she won it. recent controversy around woody allen might hurt her chances. don't worry, slam-dunk, she wand lose. she won best supporting actress in 2004 for the aviator. she will have oscar book end. >> sound like a shoo-in for her. >> one big lock of the night. she can not lose. jenna: any surprises? >> i think best song. pundits are picking let it go from frozen. i think u2 may pull off a

ordinarily life, mandela, long walk to freedom. they never won before. nominated from the song for "gangs of new york." they lost to eminem. i think u2 may win. big shock. night. jenna: if our audience not seen any oscar films what is the one you think we should all see? >> i think "12 years a slave." great film. fantastic educational experience. see that if you can. jenna: great to see you as always. we'll check your predictions by the way. >> thanks. jenna: jon? jon: that film was amazing. tarik, thanks. three years after a deadly earthquake and tsunami in japan, why some of america's bravest are is of l suffering from mysterious illnesses. thousand of families in sound california on high alert. torrential rains bring devastating mudslides to areas already devastated by wildfires. s account to his merrill edge

retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

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>> hot outside, huh? >> if you think 10 degrees is hot. >> on the west case they're waiting for rain. they're getting it now, too much of it. we'll have breaking news with adam housley out there live. what are you talking about? >> you know the story of a 17-year-old boy who says accidentally bought a beer to high school. did all the right things. alerted his teacher and still got suspended. we'll debate that. >> do you believe him. >> i do believe him. >> top of the hour. >> looks similar. we'll show you. jon: well, mysterious illnesses are now plaguing some of america's bravest. when a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami hit japan's fukushima power plant back in 2011 the u.s. navy especially raced to the disaster zone three years later some first-responders are suffering from unexplained illnesses like cancer, bleeding, hair loss. they say fukushima is to blame.

we have dr. devi from nyu school of medicine and has taken a look at this. some of the sailors say they were perfectly fine, helped out with the rescue after the leak and then, all of a sudden they're coming down with mysterious illnesses, hair loss, fainting spells, the like. does it sound like it's a possibility of radiation poisoning? >> it could be. definitely could be. people can have the symptoms. they can develop cancers. they were tried to jump into a disaster zone to help people. they have aing per challenge ahead of them. in order for them to prove this radiation exposure and nuclear radiation is so rare, they have to first try to prove their case, prove it is not genetics, there are no other environmental factors and they have to show extent of harm or damages which is even more tiff cult because they may not have all the harms yet. they may develop problems or

cancers later in the future. jon: part of the problem is that radiation poison something fairly hard to study because it just hasn't happened that often in world history. >> exactly. we can only look at hiroshima, nagasaki and chernobyl. some data is selected. hard to know what the cutoff levels are and what is safe? jon: the power company, if they were aware how bad things were they were not telling the japanese government. the navy sails with the ronald reagan aircraft carrier battle group and they apparently didn't know how high the radiation levels were. >> exactly. it is really difficult. there is the electric company's involvement, japan's involvement and also the navy itself, how much responsibility is each party going to take for the soldiers and why should the soldiers have to figure this out for themselves. jon: another study that caught our eye has to do with caesarean sections and the discovery

caesarean births are more likely to result in baby that is tend to be obese? >> yeah. we're not exactly sure what the cause of that is, but it could be if you're delivered through the, you know through the belly as opposed to vaginally you're exposed to different bacteria. if you have different bacteria in your gut and grow up that way, maybe you absorb or digest foods differently. the weight gain over time could be different. the other thing, why do people have c sections? why do mothers have them? might be because there is already predisposing health problems in the fetus, in the baby or in the mother. so it could be those health problems that lead to the obesity later. jon: i know medical world has been trying to reduce the number of c sections, has it not? >> supposed to be safer if you deliver vaginally. there are exceptions, there are times if the mother is at high-risk for developing a complication or the baby is not getting enough oxygen you do want to proceed with a c-section. jon: another study that, well, obviously involves women has to do with birth control pills and

multiple sclerosis. they're finding women that take birth control pills are more apt to develop ms? >> not a surprise he hormones are involved here because more woman are prone to develop multiple sclerosis. this is difficult to study because multiple sclerosis is so rare. we don't know why people are taking birth control pills. we assume because they're sexually active. it could be for other things. they have irregular mence. maybe ovarian sifts. we don't know if the hormonenal be a normalities expose them to ms or -- jon: no proof birth control pills are bringing on ms? >> no proof. it is correlated. doesn't necessarily mean a cause. jon: more study. dr. devi, good to have you in. >> thank you. jon: jenna? jenna: california getting a soaking of much-needed rain. that state in the middle of a drought. they have mudslides and

flooding. latest on west coast. cities hardest hit by the housing collapse are seeing prices rise. homebuilders want back in but they say a shortage of labor is holding them back. phil keating is pitching in at a construction site, sort of pitching in i guess of the he will have the whole story coming right up.

jenna: right now, rising home prices are good news for some cities hard hit by foreclosures in the great recession. the recovery is bringing back homebuilders as well but progress is slowly mainly because they're apparently having hard time finding enough skilled labor. phil keating in miami looking at this side of t, phil? >> reporter: jenna, labor like the framers on the 11th floor getting ready for the

drywall phase of this project. there are jobs aplenty out there for development. buildings are again rising up into the sky at best levels we've seen since 2006 and '07. in fact next summer when this bid something completed, icon bay, it will be 43 stories tall and full of condos. again the wildcard is skilled labor. >> the irony is that the places that were hardest hit douching the construction downturn, cities like miami, phoenix, las vegas, parts of the central valley in california are the exact same areas now that they're growing again are having the hardest time finding skilled workers. >> reporter: from window and cellars to placerrers to electricians and ductworkers, each critical position in the construction industry is needed right now. 2/3 of general contractors around the country worry they won't find people to fill the job. re-emphasizing value of trade schools will absolutely help according to the associated

general contractors of america. the nation lost two million construction jobs during the great recession with florida leading the way, many of those jobs have returned but nothing like it was during the boom years when the construction jobs dried up. many of those workers moved into the energy sector or just plain retired. but the sense is right now with plenty of new projects in the pipeline this will be the best year since 2010. >> we are in more mature cycle. there is less construction but at the same time there's a lot more than there was two years ago. so there is less construction at the peak of the boom which makes us believe that this will be a longer cycle. >> reporter: and here at icon bay, once it is complete and living here. look at view. that is miami beach in the background. biscayne bay below you. we saw amenities other day? how good are things in south florida? right now there are 100 high-rise crain permits still pending. jenna? jenna: nice view. definitely good view.

location, location, location. phil, thank you. jon: fox news alert. we're taking you out to southern california where they are trying to rescue a man and a dog from the los angeles river. we told you about how rain is finally hitting los angeles and really all of california after months of terrible drought. the los angeles river usually not much of a stream but right now it is royaling. -- roiling. this guy and his dog are stuck. they're trying to get him out of there. we'll try to keep eye on efforts from the l.a. fire department and l.a.p.d. we'll let you know how that goes. jenna: despite the rain, spring training is underway in florida and arizona. usually dogs are just something that not allowed on the field among other things. this puppy is a different story. we'll tell you about little hank's big adventure next. jon: go, hank! ♪

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frigid outside in new york but spring training is in full swing down south. we having following the story of hank. we promised you that yesterday. hank is the unofficial mascot of the milwaukee brewers apparently he was a stray and named after hank aaron. the club enjoyed a milestone this week for hank. ♪ ♪ >> there you see. it hank got the run in his own sausage race. his very first one. check out his hot dog cost oum. hank did a great job on those short legs and they expect more to come.

>> hank has a story. abandoned and wandered in the brewer's dugout. >> making it more dramatic. >> thanks for joining us. >> america's news headquarters starts right now. thank you, guys, the winter storm dealing a 1, 2 punch. i am bill hemmer. how are you doing. alley. >> drought- stricken southern california bracing for 3- 5 inches of soaking rain. but too much rain could trigger flooding and mud slides and putting lives on the line there. adam housely is live from gle glenndora, california. joishgs the rain started on oak grove drive. the water is coming and converging here in the mile